NOVAA ‘Hari’ – EP REVIEW

This NOVAA article was written by Rachael Chinery, a GIGsoup contributor. Edited by Natalie Whitehouse

Illustrating an engrossing blend of moody electronic atmospherics with subtle acoustic tones, ‘Hari’ is the self-produced product of NOVAA’s sublime ethereal artistry, featuring the debut, lead single ‘Danger Is My Only Lover’; the synth-heavy ‘Devil Ones’, ‘Soldier Boy’, and ‘Hari’ ahead of four reworked versions from Sea Moya, LO, Bennet, and BLTVH.

Exhibiting a fresh name and branding (previously La Petite Rouge), that mirrors the evolution of her sound and stylistic developments, she insists her interpretation of a nova being “an outburst of energy and emergence of a star” and “a creation of lots of energy” echoes her creative output. She claims her sound to be “organic electronica” with a “mixture of the cold of the electronic elements and the warmth of the acoustic sound, inspired by her “isolation”, the discovery of “the limits and hidden corners of [her] mind” and mere reality of street sounds – something NOVAA captures as a basis of her recordings.

Renowned for its prolific output of commercial electronic/techno music, notably via bands akin to Tangerine Dream, with Schulze describing his work as “a quadraphonic symphony for orchestras and e-machines”, and arguably claiming to be the home of the electronic music scene, Germany’s ongoing affair with electronic beats have, and continue to, heavily influence the product of any young, musically driven German creative, like NOVAA. Yet she acknowledges the music scene is “way smaller than in other countries” and expresses confidence in the broadening of the “German music mind.”

But it was Germany that NOVAA’s career initiated through remixing songs from her bedroom – notably reworking fellow Berlin based band, Children – and continues with both remixes and original, self-produced material. Yet, as an artist with such a seemingly crafted personal finesse, she illustrates her genuine, organic infatuation and love of the scene and genre as she claims the “preciousness” of reworking other artists and “taking the energy and inspiration of [a song] and combining it with yours”, and admits that “sometimes it multiplies, but sometimes it subtracts.”

After the successful release of ‘Hari’ EP, I was curious to hear of what was set to come for NOVAA. Telling me the future holds “honesty with the world and with [her]self,” adding that she feels “like there are a lot of lies and confusions in the world right now and [she is] of course a part of them,” noting that “the future of NOVAA will be honesty within every single tone, word and sound.

She embodies the purity and unrefined creative vision she delivers via NOVAA, and projects a brand and aura of profound emotion, sensitivity and above else, creativity and finesse.